Ten Days in September
by Benny The Crazed Cartoonist
Summary: Donatello's POV, written in the form of a journal. The brothers find a Kraang experiment in the gutter, a half-human half-coral mutant. Can Don find a cure for her? No pairings.
1. September 4

**Not your 'run-of-the-mill' mutation story. You'll find out why later.**

**Enjoy!**

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September 4th, 2012

Well, for starters, this isn't a diary (ahem MIKEY ahem). It's a scientific journal, dedicated to the sole purpose of observing and recording everything I can about a peculiar Kraang experiment that popped up yesterday. In case this record gets burned, lost, or stolen (again, MIKEY), or even if it survives beyond my lifetime and is found by some wicked awesome scientists who want to publish my findings in a book (Hello, by the way), I have copies of this report in the file cabinet in the corner, the spare one in the garage, and the secret compartment under the false bottom of my sock drawer.

Anyway, I suppose I should start at the beginning. Yesterday night my brothers and I were on patrol when Raphael (he's got the best eyes) saw something in the alley. It was like a body, body shaped, anyway, wrapped in a dirty white cloth. Leo pulled the cloth away and there was a person in it.

I guess I'd better describe her. She was about April's age, sixteen or seventeen, a bit taller than me, thinner than a human her age should be, with messy brown hair cut short. It was matted and dirty. It looked as though she hadn't seen a shower for a good many weeks. We had to keep the sheet on because (and I hate to say this) she was naked underneath. It was... awkward. But that wasn't the weirdest thing about her. Out of her back grew numerous protrusions, all pale pink in color and growing in bumpy chunks, like rock.

My scientific curiosity was sparked. I needed to study this girl, needed to know what happened to her. I volunteered to bring her back down to the sewer. It was strange because I couldn't carry her in my arms. The growths made it impossible for me to do so comfortably. I had to sling her over my shoulder.

After a lot of trial-and-error, we got her back to the lair. April got her some clothes for when she woke up, but it didn't really look like she was going to for a while. I turned her onto her back so I could look at the rock things. I'd never seen anything quite like it! I itched to study the growths, as well as the girl, but couldn't without her permission (because I am just a gentleman like that). So I needed to wait until she woke.

This morning, she did wake up. It was a little weird for everyone. Anyway, she told us her story.

Her name is Jo Hawthorne. She had been captured by the Kraang a while ago. She couldn't tell how long ago, because she was unconscious for most of the time. They experimented on her, some form of Mutagen concentration techniques. They were trying to give her wings, I guess, since they focused on her shoulder blades, but something went wrong. Jo said that they threw her out some time after the failure of the experiment. They stuck her with a needle in the Kraang compound and the next thing she knew, she was here with us.

I asked if I could study her and she said yes, far more easily than I'd expected. In my experience, humans don't like to be studied. I took a sample of the rock growing from her back and analyzed it revealing it to be a type of saltwater coral, thriving on the surface of the skin all over her back. The analysis sheet is attached to this report.

Anyway, April took Jo back to her apartment for a shower. When they got back, Jo was wearing really baggy brown pants (too big for April. Her dad's maybe?) and her torso was totally wrapped in bandages, both so I can monitor the growth rate of the coral, and because it's hard to wear a shirt when your back is covered in rock. And, since that sort of thing attracts quite a bit of attention (trust us, we know), it looks like the sewers got a new occupant today.


	2. September 5

**I own only Jo. All rights reserved. **

**Enjoy!**

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September 5th, 2012

It's weird. Human hair can be so different. April's is bright, long, and heavy while Jo's is light and soft, and it sort of floats around her head like a cloud.

Just a little scientific observation.

The Kraang must not have treated Jo very well. I came out of the lab at around one-thirty and everyone had gone to bed. We'd made Jo a bed in the main area out of blankets and the beanbag pillows we had lying around. She was tossing and turning, face contorted and eyes squeezed shut. She wasn't crying or moaning, like Mikey sometimes does when he has nightmares. Just... silently suffering. I didn't ask her about it. Besides, when she woke up in the morning she was smiling and cheerful.

Girls are like a foreign language that I'll never understand.

Leo asked her about her parents. Apparently she has some, but she didn't think that they'd be all too appreciative of her mutation. She said she preferred to stay down in the sewers. I don't know why she would, there's nothing to do down here. But Leo and Mikey gave her a tour of the lair and the surrounding sewer tunnels, just so she wouldn't get lost.

The coral on her back hasn't expanded a very significant amount. No more than a millimetre or two. But I'm still worried. It hasn't just grown up, it's grown out. Almost like it's spreading to the rest of her body. I am conducting more experiments to try and find out the reason for this, dare I say, intriguing phenomenon. The exact measurements of the coral are stapled to this paper.

Jo and I have come to an unspoken agreement. I can study her if she can do the same to me. Not in the same depth I do, but observe. She was asking a bunch of questions about us, how we became the way we are, how we got trained, why we wear masks all the time, if we're cold-blooded or warm-blooded (I don't even know). She's super curious. It feels nice to have another inquiring mind around the lair. I don't feel quite as nerdy. She's pretty smart, too. She wanted to be a teacher, but that doesn't seem likely anymore. To make her feel better, I let her teach me advanced algebra.

Leo sees Jo as more of... baggage, I think. He doesn't really talk to her, more polite conversation. She seems to be genuinely trying to get through to him, though. My theory is that she wants to relate to others like her, mutants like herself. Makes sense. It's human nature to seek out those like oneself. I have yet to figure out why this is.

Raph is also sort of distant, but that's just how he is. At least he's trying as well. I think Jo really gained points with him because she likes action and video games, especially the racing game we have for the GameCube. Raph was impressed because April (the only other girl he knows) hates that game and absolutely refuses to play it with anyone.

And Mikey's also really curious about her. He keeps annoying her about how many friends she has or if she's ever gone sky-diving. How is he related to me again?

Oh, and for the record, I'm mentioning this because I'm going to monitor if her mutation changes her personality or preferences at all. I've never heard of such a thing happening, but there's always a first.

Anyway, that about wraps up this report. I'm heading off to bed now.


	3. September 6

September 6th, 2012

Again, no significant growth on her protrusions. I'm starting to think that I'm worrying over nothing. Jo certainly doesn't seem to be concerned. But she requested something weird today. She asked if we had any table salt lying around. We always do because the Ramen we can get our hands on never has enough flavour, so I gave it to her, and she poured some into her hand, licking it off. Is this a common action for humans? I've never seen April doing it, but I don't question people's habits.

Today's Tuesday, the day that we devote entirely for training. (Honestly, though, us boys believe that Tuesdays will be the death of us...) So we went into the dojo, us and April, and Jo followed along behind. She sat off to the side as we sparred, her eyes all big and filled with awe. We have that effect on people.

Don't ask why, but Raph felt like showing off (he does a lot) and he totally creamed Leo right in front of Jo, all style and flair. Man, though, she was grinning like an idiot. He really impressed her even though Leo was steamed afterwards. Sensei scolded Raph pretty badly, but I don't think it got through to his head. Not much does.

So Jo asked if she could fight against April because she's the least experienced of all of us. Sensei didn't think it was a great idea, but he didn't outright refuse. Well, us boys couldn't miss this so we sat off to the side. I have to admit, I was waiting to see April put the smack-down on Jo, but boy was I wrong. That girl does not go down easily.

She's got her own style of fighting. She and April squared off and when Sensei gave the command, April lunged first (that's my girl). She was going to punch Jo in the stomach, that much was obvious. Suddenly, Jo spun around and turned her back to April! No one turns their back on their opponent! Everyone knows that! April couldn't stop and she hit her hand hard on the coral exposed on Jo's back. That would be like punching rock! It's a wonder April didn't break her hand. She split her skin, though. It was painful to them both because some of the coral snapped off and Jo was wincing, but while April was otherwise engaged, she took out her legs with one quick sweep. Jo's a fast learner. We only just used that move in front of her today.

Splinter was having mixed feelings about Jo's actions. Purposely injuring an ally, even during training, is frowned upon by our whole family, but we were too caught up in the awesomeness of Jo's moves to disapprove. Splinter wasn't though. He scolded her after he finished with Raph.

On the bright side, guess who got to wrap April's hand!

She is one tough girl. She didn't even cry, although her eyes did tear up. And she said that it would make an awesome battle scar. I'm not arguing.

Jo came over as I was cleaning April's wound. She apologized for turning her back. She thought it would be a good strategy against a more skilled opponent. She was copying what she'd seen my brothers and I do, I realized. I was just about to say that it was a horrible strategy and she should grovel before my April's feet when April laughed and said not to worry about it. Then she and Jo smiled at each other like they had a secret and I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something. Once I was done, they went off together, chatting like old friends even though they've barely known each other for two days.

I will never understand girls. Ever.


	4. September 7

September 7th, 2012

I have just come to an alarming revelation.

The coral on Jo's back is growing exponentially! (Which, if you are not a scientist, means it starts slowly and then suddenly speeds up. ) The growth has curled up onto the backs of her shoulders and the existing chunks have extended a good centimetre! The coral now covers most of the skin on her back and I fear it will keep spreading. It's a truly horrifying thought, but I don't know what I can do about it.

Also, I've figured out why she craves salt so much. Coral's natural habitat is saltwater, so the mutated part of the coral is feeding off of her body's natural sodium chloride supply, which results in her strange habit of eating salt. I'm glad I got that sorted, but I'm also worried about what might happen to Jo's vital systems if she keeps it up.

I think the growth is taking a toll on both her strength and mobility. She spent most of the day sitting in the main area with April's laptop while I charted her growth patterns. I think she got bored after a while, so I asked if she knew any card games. We've got packs of cards lying around the lair and we can't use them because we have no clue how. She knows lots of card games, like Solitaire, Go Fish, Spades, and (my favourite) Poker. I've always wanted to learn to play Poker. We played a few hands using old coins as chips. She was winning at first, and then I got the hang of it and I totally cleaned her out. It was fantastic.

Anyway, then I needed to transcribe my notes into my laptop and she said she was ok with that, but she looked a bit sad, even though she was still smiling (she never stops!). I didn't feel well leaving her, but Mikey came later and asked her to tell her jokes. After a bit they switched to riddles so Mikey could apparently "exercise his brain". It didn't turn out great.

Then Mikey was called to clean his room and he needed to leave too. Suddenly Raph was there. It was like we were just lining up to hang out with her! It's kind of funny, now that I think about it. So she and Raph played AutoRacer Sixteen for, like, four hours! Man, those two can play. They're both really competitive. And loud. Seriously, when they play video games, they're both screaming at each other and grunting as they turn corners and stuff. At one point, Sensei needed to poke his head out of the dojo and tell them to quiet down. They did for a bit, but then got loud again. Too soon (In Jo's opinion, not mine) Raph had to feed Spike and Jo was alone again.

I didn't expect Leo to talk to Jo, but he did. It was surprising for everyone. He came up to her and she just sort of looked at him, like she didn't know what he was there for. Then Leo, in all his glory, stammered and stuttered until he finally got his point across. He said, "Do you know how to cook?". I was wary at first (Leo keeps breaking things in the kitchen) and Jo said she'd never tried. But we have a few old cookbooks lying around and April went to get ingredients. The kitchen was a mess afterward, but the cookies that came out of the over were pure heaven. Even Splinter broke down and had, like, eight. April looks beautiful when she's stuffing her mouth full of chocolate chips...

But I'd better wrap this up. My stomach isn't used to so much rich food and I think I'm gonna hurl.


	5. September 8

September 8th, 2012

It's about the middle of the day now. I'm doing this report early so I don't stay up until 2:30 tonight. Jo was sleeping fitfully again last night. I still don't know what the issue is, and I'm almost tempted to ask. But I don't.

At this moment, Jo is helping me in the lab. I've been experimenting with the effects of different substances on slugs (Like salt, pepper, curry powder, etc). I'm almost tempted to try mutagen on it, but the results are unpredictable, so I refrain myself from such desires. Jo helps by bringing me things and writing down the outcome (mainly because she can write faster than me, since she has five fingers and all). She's not a bad assistant, actually. I'd keep her around if I could.

But I don't think I can. I did extensive tests on the coral on Jo's back (she's as good a patient as she is an assistant) and they revealed that the coral was not just growing out, but also IN! My makeshift X-Ray machine uncovered that the coral was extending inwards, latching onto her spine and ribcage. I don't know what to do about it, and that's the worst part about this whole ordeal. If I don't stop this somehow, I can't guarantee that Jo will... survive. I don't know when the coral will stop expanding, if it ever does.

I hate this. An entire life is in my hands and I can't DO anything!

I've started fooling around with a new mutagen antidote formula. Unfortunately, I need more cans of mutagen to test it fully, not to mention I need to record how the mutations act under certain conditions so I can have a better understanding of when components I need to incorporate into this new formula. Experiments like these only work in the early stages of mutation development, that's why I can't perform such on myself. I've been mutated too long and my DNA has just gotten... used to it, for lack of better terms. I hesitate to ask Jo. She started out human, after all, and she still looks it. It would be like an animal experimenting on a person. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Really, though, this is the only way. I can't save her if I don't at least try.

I'm just glad that Jo doesn't suspect anything. She's always so happy and helpful. Her smile never disappears (Except when she's having those nightmares of hers). She reminds me a bit of Mikey, just without the annoying. I'd hate to be the one to break the news to her, but... I know I'll have to do so eventually. I just really hope that day isn't in the near future. She's got her whole life ahead of her.

I've got to finish that antidote. It's not just for April's dad anymore, it's for Jo, and Pete, and all the other creatures whose lives have been tossed upside down because of the Kraang's dumb experiments. In my opinion, a teenager should not have this kind of pressure.

I sort of dropped a hint to Sensei about this whole ordeal, and, if I ever successfully created an antidote, if he would use it and become human again. He said that he believed he would. That motivates me all the more. I want to do whatever I can for my father, my brothers, my girlfriend (well, sort of), and my new friend.

They all rely on me now.

What's a turtle to do?


	6. September 9

September 9th, 2012

The cure isn't going so well. I can't seem to find the right balance of chemicals. Not only that, I don't have a lot of the chemicals I need at my disposal. If I had a real laboratory I could figure this out faster... But no use complaining, I suppose. Just keep trying.

I told Jo about my quest for a cure. She smiled and said, "Anything I can do to help, I will". I like her. She's great to have around, especially if you're busy and need assistance. Or a willing test subject. I don't think she minds the coral, but I don't think she particularly likes it either. Sort of a reluctant-symbiotic-relationship. It's intriguing.

The coral is almost covering her shoulders now, working its way around to the collarbone and climbing up her neck. It's also curling around her ribs. It's extended over three centimetres since yesterday. At the rate it's going, it won't take long until her entire body is encased. I hate to think of what will become of her when that happens.

I need to figure out how the coral reacts to certain elements before I can fully figure out the correct amount of compounds that will go into the cure. I am writing these words from the rooftops above the sewer entrance. Leo, Mikey, and Raph are patrolling nearby, making sure that Jo and I won't be disturbed by Foot ninjas or Kraang or any such thing. Tonight, we're finding out how the mutation reacts to prolonged exposure to cool air. Jo's got a blanket over her arms, leaving her coral uncovered. She's just staring at the stars. I asked her why.

She turned to me and said, "Where I lived before, I could never see the night sky in all its brilliance." I guess that makes sense. She told us before that she lived in the more populated areas of New York, not in the bums, like us. There aren't so many lights out here, not enough to block out the stars.

Jo's weird. I mean, how many normal people think about that?

Then again, how should I know? I'm far from normal. Come to think of it, so is she. Maybe she's just noticing and appreciating smaller things since she knows she's not going to~

Ugh, back to square one. She doesn't know that she's going to die yet, so why is she pointing this out? I guess she's just... appreciative.

Again, this makes me realize how much about girls (the human race in general, actually) I don't know anything about. This is mostly because April doesn't say anything remotely like Jo does. Their temperaments are totally different as well. April is fiery and wild, like her ginger hair. Jo is calm and easy-going. How can two people of the same gender, age, and build have such varying mannerisms? With the introduction of Jo, I have felt that my innate knowledge has steadily decreased as her very presence challenges many theories I have developed on the human species. It's intriguing and infuriating. I suppose now I'll have to rethink all my theories, which isn't too tedious, but it's bothersome.

I'm going to wrap this up because I'm running out of paper space and I really don't want to go back underground to get more. So until tomorrow.


	7. September 10

September 10th, 2012

Hey scientists from the future! Michelangelo here! Donnie said he was writing this so you guys could have something to go on when you found our cold dead carcasses strewn around the sewer or at some Kraang facility with a thousand blaster burns in our shells. (Just to verify here, I'm the awesome one.)

Speaking of Don, the only reason I'm writing this dumb diary entry (AND IT TOTALLY IS A DIARY, DON!) instead of him is he can't be bothered to get out of bed. He's been sneezing all over the lair ever since this morning and he's been bedridden ever since he had a sneezing fit during training and almost killed himself. Sensei sent him to his room for sleep, but unfortunately not before he wrote up the science-y part of this paper and told me to glue it into here. So here's the boring part:

[** I'll start off by saying I know if we're cold-blooded or not (we are...). I nearly went into hibernation last night on the roof. Jo needed to track down Leo and when I came around we were back in the lair and everyone was staring at me. I guess I got a little sick. Serves me right for being out all night in September. **

**Thankfully, before Sensei barricaded me in my room (he actually truthfully did) I could get a good look at Jo's mutation progress. The coral is rapidly expanding, tearing the bandages around her torso as it curls around her ribs. It's also crawling up her neck and is almost at her jaw line. By my estimations it will only take another... five days, a week at the most, before it consumes her completely. I need to be out of this prison and in my lab! I wish Splinter could see that! But he insists I stay here until I get at least four hours of sleep at the least! I don't have time to be in bed, I need to make an antidote for Jo otherwise she'll die. And I believe everyone's gotten too attached to her for that to happen.**

**I haven't told anyone my theory. Everyone thinks she's going to live for a long time yet and I don't want to be the one to tell them otherwise. It would be... too hard. **

**Also, I have made another interesting and slightly worrying discovery. This morning, I was chipping off a piece of coral from Jo's back, like I do nearly every day for testing purposes, and she gasped. I asked if I was hurting her, but she denied it, although I could tell that she was totally in pain. I'm afraid that the coral is not only growing inward, outward, and expanding, it is making itself a PART of her, merging with her nervous systems and maybe other systems as well. I'm not sure about the others, since I didn't have time to perform a scan before Splinter sent me into confinement (but I'm not bitter or anything...). **

**Jo came to visit me, against Splinter's orders. She's got some guts. She sat still while I observed all the above. I probably sneezed all over her... Because that's just my luck. She didn't say anything, though. April would've. Just another difference between them. **

**I'm making this shorter than normal because, in all honesty, I feel like crap. Splinter had better not read this or he'll gloat...]**

That was probably mundo boring. I wouldn't know, I didn't read it (science-y stuff is your thing. And Donnie's thing. And Bill Nye's thing.) I started to read the other entries, but I got bored after the first paragraph, like you guys probably did.

Anyway, I've got a pizza in the oven so I'm finished here. Later, dudes.


	8. September 11

**Sorry for the wait. I was away for a week. Anyway, chapter eight.**

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September 11th, 2012

Hey. I'm back. Still not feeling great, but better than I did yesterday. I got up really early (against the wishes of Master Splinter, obviously), so I could continue working on the retro-mutagen for Jo. I think I've almost got it. The formula is attached to this report. I had some issues with the nitrogen quantity, along with how to convert it into nitrates while still in its gaseous state, but hopefully I've figured it out now. Not bad, for a turtle with nothing to work with but scraps.

A few successful tests on Jo's coral samples have me feeling really confident about this. It seems to be functioning alright, but one can never be too safe. Although I'm not sure how many more tests I can perform, since Jo is basically immobile now and I need to get her the antidote fast. The coral is nearly covering her cheeks and temples, also rendering her spine practically useless. She can't get off the couch without inflicting pain upon herself. The others are getting suspicious and are asking me what's happening to her. I've only told Leo.

He confronted me after Jo said she preferred not to watch training, opting instead to remain on the couch. That's when he knew something was up, since she loves to watch us spar. I had to tell him the entire story, all my suspicions about her not making it, and he shared my relief when I showed him that the retro-mutagen was nearly complete. He asked if he could do anything to help (I declined because, well, Leo in the laboratory is generally not a good thing).

Anyway, I've practically finished the formula and I believe I deserve a break. Actually, almost our whole family believes we deserve a break. With the amount of new mutants out there and the hard work that's been going on night after night tracking down mutagen canisters, even Leo thinks tonight should be a night off.

Since Jo can't move all that well, we opted to do something in the living room, ultimately deciding on a movie night! We hadn't had one in years, even though we were all particularly fond of them. Popcorn and evil plots and rescues and general family time with the four people I want to have in my life forever. Mikey, Raph, Leo, and Splinter (with April and Jo as added bonuses).

About halfway through _The Avengers_, Raph leaned over to me and asked when I was going to give Jo the antidote. I asked why, and he pointed out that she was clearly in pain. She hadn't moved throughout the whole movie, and her breathing, though quiet, was laboured and faster than it should've been. At which point, Raph said that he knew that I knew that she might die and wondered why I hadn't just given it to her already. I'm still shocked that he bothered to think about someone other than himself. I told him that I would just run a few more tests and give it to her tomorrow. Surprise of surprises, he left it at that. Maybe just because Bruce was Hulking out (Raph's favorite part...).

But I can't help but feel that something's wrong. If Raph knows, maybe Mikey does too, and no one would be able to handle sniveling, wailing, bawling, big-mouth Mikey and he would blab to Jo and get HER all worked up. Just thinking about it gives me the shakes. Or maybe that's just the cold talking. At some point in the night, Jo caught my eye and a smile graced her pink-blotched face. Paralyzed, half covered in rock, basically bedridden as I had been yesterday, and she was still cheerful. What a girl.

I made up my mind then to be sure to give Jo the antidote tomorrow, the first chance I had. I owed it to her.

It's around midnight as I write this. I was just finishing up the final tests on the retro-mutagen. I believe it's finally ready for use, but I can't be sure.

I guess I'll find out tomorrow.


	9. September 12

**It's angst for a reason. Don't say I didn't warn you.**

* * *

September 12th, 2012

I'll skip the theatrics.

Jo's dead.

Really, honest-to-goodness, undeniably dead.

I really don't want to tell the story in detail, but I guess I kinda have to. So Mikey woke me up this morning. He was all flustered and worried, babbling nonsense about Jo. When he calmed down, he told me that Jo couldn't move at all and the coral on her back had nearly covered her face.

I got up pretty quickly to check on her and Mikey (for once) was right. Everything except her lips and eyes were covered in coral and I could SEE the rock expanding, slowly and ominously, seeking to cover all means of survival. She noticed me, although her eyes were clouded, and through the pain, she smiled. Of course she did. This was Jo.

I rushed to my lab, hurriedly preparing an injection of anti-mutagen. I would've liked to run some more tests, but time was of the essence and Jo's life hung in the balance. I ran back as fast as I could. Everyone was standing over Jo, panicking or crying (in Mikey's case) and shouting at me to do something. I stabbed the needle into her leg, one of the only spots not covered by coral, and made sure she got every drop of the antidote. Gosh, I don't know where I went wrong, but we waited for at least a minute and nothing seemed to be happening! If anything, the coral's growth increased!

Mikey turned on me then, angrily asking if I knew that Jo might've died. In front of everyone else, who already DID know, I couldn't really lie. I didn't say anything, but my silence gave him his answer. He ran to Sensei's arms and started bawling. I knelt next to Jo, knowing I'd need to explain why I didn't tell her, but she quieted me with one raised hand.

"I already knew." She said. Oh, it hurt to listen to her, every breath laboured and raspy. I asked her how she found out. "I'm not stupid. I knew sooner or later the my coral would get out of control."

"But you were always so cheerful," I'd said. She laughed at that.

"When one is dying one makes the most of the days one has left." She replied, sounding very much like Master Splinter. The coral was crawling over her lips and only then did I fully realize that the cure was a failure. Jo was going to die and it was my fault. I couldn't chip it away from her mouth either, because of the fact that it merged with her nerves and it would be like chipping away skin.

Leo quietly murmured her name and the last noise Jo made before the coral grew over her mouth was a shuddering, almost hysterical-sounding chuckle. We all watched as her chest heaved rapidly, trying to get oxygen into her lungs to no avail, and finally falling still when her body finally gave up. And then everyone started crying, even Raph. Even me.

We were all present when Jo died in the worst, slowest way possible. Death by suffocation.

And it's all my fault.


	10. September 13

September 13th, 2012

We held Jo's funeral this morning.

Most of us bunked out near her body. When we woke up from whatever fitful sleep we got, the coral had claimed any human parts left. All she looks like now is a hunk of pink rock.

No one has said a word ever since Jo breathed her last. Even Mikey's been respectful and quiet. Actually, during breakfast, he was the one who suggested a funeral. We all agreed because, in all honesty, she deserved it.

I owed it to her.

Just liked I'd owed her the cure to her mutation.

At least I did one of the two.

Splinter took care of most of the details, Leo helping him. Raph stood 'guard' over Jo's body and Mikey just lay down somewhere, still as a corpse. Heh. As for me, I'm still numb.

Splinter came to fetch us, Leo by his side. My oldest brother had been crying, I could tell. His eyes were bloodshot. Or maybe that was just from lack of sleep. Both he and Splinter had white lilies somewhere on their person, more held in their hands. Where they got them, I have no clue. They led us to a sewer tunnel with a clean river running through the exact middle. The river was lined with lilies like my Master and Leo had. Sunlight filtered in through the grates above our heads, making the water sparkle. It was beautiful, modest, and depressing all rolled together. Leo had fashioned a sort-of raft out of old pieces of wood and rope that he found around the sewers. It wasn't a bad place for mourning.

Raph had the privilage of carrying her body. The rest of us, excluding Splinter, knelt by the river silently as Raph passed what was once Jo into Splinter's paws, then he sat down next to us. Splinter started murmuring something in Japanese as he waded into the shallow water and gently placed her body on the raft Leo built. I could understand bits and pieces, but the majority of Sensei's chant was just noise, and, to add to that, I wasn't really listening. Sensei set a single white lily on her chest, a spot of purity in a corrupted pink background. If I squinted hard enough, I could still make out Jo's outline underneath the horrible mutation that commandeered her and I hated myself all over again.

Sensei folded his hands in front of his chest and bowed deeply to Jo's still form. In sync, my brothers and I did so as well.

We didn't see Splinter push the raft into the current, but when we rose from the bow, the raft was floating silently down the bubbling river, taking its passenger into unknown oblivion. That is the last I am ever going to see of Jo Hawthorne.

It's after the 'funeral' now. Splinter told us we had the day free from training, but none of us want to go do anything. I know Mikey's broken down crying twice since then, although he kept himself pretty well in check during the ceremony. I'm just sitting here in the lab, obsessing over my formula and what exactly went wrong.

But this experiment is over. This is the last journal entry until I can somehow get my antidote to be successful.

It may take a while.


End file.
